Fillmore clerk maintains slim lead in latest election vote count

Fillmore City Clerk Clay Westling's lead over his challenger, Nancy Blendermann-Meyer, is up to 11 votes, but the race remains too close to call.

The Ventura County Elections Division released an updated count Tuesday, a week after Election Day, that gave Westling 49.76 percent of the vote and Blendermann-Meyer 49.45 percent. The rest went to write-in candidates.

Tuesday's count included about 18,000 ballots.

The margin was almost unchanged from the past round of results, which were released Friday. Westling's lead grew to 11 votes from eight.

All votes cast at the polls and all absentee ballots received more than two days before Election Day have been counted. Absentee ballots mailed at the last minute or handed in on Election Day are still being counted, as are provisional ballots, which are cast by voters whose registration is in doubt or who vote away from their home polling place.

There are about 30,000 ballots left to be counted in the county. A few hundred of them are likely from Fillmore voters — enough to decide the city clerk's race.

The race for Fillmore city treasurer also is close. Shannon Godfrey has 50.6 percent of the vote, and Grace Donahue has 48.7 percent, a difference of 66 votes. Godfrey's lead will likely hold up unless Donahue wins a strong majority of the remaining ballots.

Fillmore's City Council race was decided after the first round of vote counting. Challengers Rick Neal, Manuel Minjares and Douglas Tucker won the three open seats by a wide margin.

More than 30,000 absentee and provisional ballots remain to be counted.